Assange leads offbeat race to Australian polls

HOUSE OF REVIEW:Julian Assange’s father said the Senate is one of the nation’s finest institutions, even though the major parties try to fill it with ‘cabbage heads’

AFP, SYDNEY

Pauline Hanson, founder of the anti-immigration One Nation party who rose to prominence in the 1990s, has also thrown herself back in the ring, saying Australians deserve better than “selfish, dysfunctional, egotistical political parties.”

Rob Manwaring, a lecturer in politics at Flinders University in South Australia, said there was “no chance of any significant vote breakthrough” for WikiLeaks and that the smaller parties would struggle for any influence, though he added a caveat.

“In general, the share of the vote for minor parties has been increasing for a number of years... so we are seeing a shift in voting behavior,” Manwaring said.